Strawberry Sundaes
by AnimeRocksMySox
Summary: Discover how Dante gained his love of strawberry sundaes.  Set before Eva's death. One-shot.


One-shot, blah :D

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"Woooow!" Dante called, gawping around the park, his steel-blue eyes sparkling in wonder, "It's so cool here!"

"Psh, it's just a park Dante," Vergil grunted, with his arms crossed, and a frown marring his features.

"Now Vergil, it's okay to enjoy yourself, it's not a crime," Eva laughed, smiling at her son.

He sneered, and turned away, looking back at the parking lot.

"I wanna go home, this place is stupid."

"No it's not, shut up!" Dante cried, stamping his foot.

"Oh Vergil," Eva sighed, "Come on, you never know, you might find something you like."

"No I won't, this place sucks."

"Now, you've not even looked, don't be so miserable," she said, her voice getting slightly sterner.

Dante ran on ahead, sick of his brother's attitude. The park was bursting with life: the grass was glowing emerald; the trees swayed and shook with every breathe of wind which passed by them; and the flowers were so colourful they seemed to explode out of the earth. There were picnic benches around, and a large pond, with ducks, and swans, and water lilies, and bulrushes. He could see the glittering of fish's scales from beneath the surface, and he ran up to the pond, amazed at the sight of it all. Above him, the sun beamed down, warming him all over, and making the horizon ripple with the heat. The sky was clear, sapphire, and beautiful. Dante took a deep breath, and threw his hands in the air. He turned around and waved at his mother.

"MOM! LOOK! LOOK, IT'S SO AWESOME HERE!"

Birds erupted out of the trees, startled by the sudden noise. Dante followed them with his eyes, and laughed in glee. When he looked back to his Mum and his brother, his face dropped when he saw Vergil shouting in anger at Eva. She had a sad look on her face, and held her arms out to him. He turned his nose up at her, and stalked back to their car in the car park. Eva kept her arms where they were for a little while, staring at where Vergil had been stood, before sighing, and letting her arms drop by her side. She stood up straight, and looked back at Dante, a sad little smile on her face.

Dante trotted up to his Mum, and took her hand.

"It's okay Mom, Vergil's just boring. We can have a good time without him!" He grinned at her.

Eva ruffled her son's hair.

"Yes we can Dante," she beamed down at Dante. "Look over there, I think that's a café. Let's go see if we can get you an ice cream!"

"And one for you too Mom!"

"Ahahah! Yes, and one for me too," Eva chuckled.

They made their was over to the log built café just over the other side of the pond. As they stepped inside, they could feel the coolness of the air conditioning, and it made a nice contrast to the heat of the sun outside. The café was empty, so they found a table for two, near the door, and sat down.

A slightly chubby waitress in her mid to late thirties made her way over to them.

"Hey there, what can I getcha, cutie?" She asked Dante, who grinned at her.

"We want some ice cream!"

"Dante, manners," Eva said, smiling softly.

"Okay, please can we have some ice cream lady?"

The woman laughed.

"Sure thing sweetie. Can I recommend the strawberry sundae? It's our specialty!"

Dante looked eagerly at his Mum.

"Can we Mom? Can we please? I've never tried strawberry sundae before!"

Eva smiled, and turned to the waitress.

"We'll both have one, please."

The waitress smiled, and winked.

"Sure thing, two strawberry sundaes, coming right up!"

She trotted off, and Dante fidgeted in his seat, eager to find out what a strawberry sundae was.

"What're they like Mom? I've never had a SUN-DAY before," he pronounced the word very clearly, liking how it felt to say it.

"Well," Eva leaned towards him, grinning, "They're like the King of ice creams,"

"The king?" Dante cried, his eyes growing wide in wonderment.

"Oh yes, they've got strawberry ice cream in, and strawberries, and cream, and strawberry sauce, and if you're really lucky, a flake as well," she half-whispered, building up the tension for Dante.

He squealed in excitement.

"WOW! That really is the king! This is going to be the bestest ice cream in the whole world!"

Eva leaned back, and smiled at Dante, who was now more fidgety than before, eagerly watching the kitchen door for any sign of movement.

She swept her hair back, and stared out of the window towards the car park.

Dante noticed, and followed her gaze.

"Don't worry Mom, we can ask if we can take one with us for Mr. Boring," he said, his smile growing less beaming, but more sincere.

Eva looked at Dante again.

"Now, that's a very good idea Dante. And you know what? Next time, we can ask your Dad to come too. Then we can all sit and eat ice cream together."

Dante laughed.

"I'd like that. 'Cus Vergil does what Dad says, and Dad does what you say, so if you say we eat ice cream together, then we will!"

Eva felt a pang in her chest, and smile faltered somewhat. As if Sparda really did what she said ALL the time. The amount of time's she'd pleaded him to spend more times with his son, and he had come up with an excuse was ridiculous.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Dante asked, his face falling.

"Yes… Yes, everything is fine Dante." She sighed. "You know what, I bet if Vergil and Dad could try strawberry sundae, they'd stop being so boring," she said softly.

Dante nodded.

"I can't wait to try it myself!"

The kitchen door flung open, and the round waitress sauntered over, holding a tray with two enormous strawberry sundaes on.

"WOOOOAAAHHH!" Dante called, as she placed them on the table, "THOSE REALLY ARE AMAZING!"

"Wait 'til you try them," the waitress laughed.

Eva smiled at her son, who she could barely see over sundae.

"LOOK MOM! IT'S EVEN GOT A FLAKE!"

"Oh it does! You lucky, lucky boy, Dante!" Eva beamed at him, and gave a thankful nod at the waitress, who gave a flash or a grin, and scooted off to the kitchen.

Dante shovelled the first scoop of sundae onto his spoon, and brought it to his mouth. He stopped, reluctant, but after seeing his Mum nod eagerly, he crammed it into his mouth. His face morphed into utter bliss as he began to scoop the second spoon, and Eva took that as a sign that he liked it. She smiled, and began to eat her own.

Within 10 minutes, Dante had finished his sundae, and was clutching his forehead.

"Brain freeze Dante?" Eva asked, only half way with hers.

"YES MOM… BUT, IT'S WORTH IT, REALLY!"

Eva laughed.

"Everything okay?" The waitress asked, walking back up to them.

"YES, THANKS LADY!" Dante grinned.

"Yeah, it is, thanks a lot," Eva smiled, "There's just too much for me," she grinned, patting her stomach.

"Alright sweetie, I'll take these for you then."

"CAN WE GET ANOTHER ONE TO TAKE MY BROTHER?"

The waitress grinned.

"Sure thing, is he at home right now?"

"No, he's in the car," Dante sighed, "He's boring. But I want him to try one!"

Eva held out a hand to quiet Dante."I'll bring back the glass as soon as he's done," she muttered.

"Oh, we won't be needing it much longer, you might as well keep it," the waitress replied, just as quietly.

"Why not?"

The waitress gestured behind her.

"Business is slow, I don't think we're going to survive at this rate," she sighed.

Eva looked at Dante. He wasn't listening, he was staring out of the window, watching a squirrel drink water from the pond.

"That's awful," Eva mumbled.

"Yeah… But, nothing stays the same forever, you know?"

Eva chuckled.

"Yeah, true."

Ten minutes later, Dante was cradling Vergil's sundae like it was the holy grail, and they made their way back to the car. Vergil was sat, staring out of the window gloomily. Dante rapped his knuckled against the glass, and Vergil rolled his eyes. He threw the door open, and it hit Dante. Dante desperately tried to cling onto the glass in his arms, but he slipped on some dirt, and fell flat on his face. Vergil pointed at him and laughing coldly.

Dante picked himself up off the floor, and looked at the sundae which was now splattered on the ground. He felt tears of rage burn up in his eyes.

"DAMN YOU VERGIL! YOU'RE SO MEAN! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" He shouted, tears of rage spilling down his cheeks.

"Oh grow up Dante," Vergil sneered, "It's just an ice cream."

"NO! NO, IT WAS YOUR SUNDAE! IT WAS GOING TO MAKE YOU LESS BORING!" Dante said, his voice thick.

Eva scurried over, and saw the two of them.

"Oh Vergil, what did you do?" She asked, putting a hand on Dante's shoulder.

"I didn't do anything, Dante's the idiot who fell over," he scoffed.

"NO! YOU PUSHED THE DOOR INTO ME!" Dante whined, wiping his eyes.

"Oh Dante, come here," Eva sighed, wiping out a tissue and dabbing his eyes. "You can sit in the front seat, if you like."

Dante sniffed, and gave his Mum a small smile.

"Yes please."

"He gets to sit in the front for being a cry-baby?" Vergil cried out.

"No, Vergil, he gets to sit in the front for being a good boy. And I thought you said the front seat was 'nothing special. It's just a chair'."

Vergil scowled, and shifted on the chair.

Dante whipped around to the front seat, and clambered in. Eva slid into the driver's seat, and they left the car park.

"It's okay, y'know," Dante said, after about fifteen minutes of driving, "We can always come back. And then I'll get you to eat strawberry sundae, Vergil, and then you'll be much less grumpy."

Dante woke up in his room. It was dark. The woman he had picked up at a bar that night lay next to him, breathing softly in her sleep. He rolled over, and looked at the picture of his mother next to his bed.

"Looks like we never got to eat that sundae together, did we…?" He muttered.

A tear dripped from the corner of his eye, and got soaked into the pillow. He closed his eyes. Eventually, he fell back asleep.

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Thanks for reading :3

Reviews loved :B


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